Stay Gold!

For the last 8 years, I have volunteered on the Board of Directors with the American Marketing Association Cincinnati Chapter. From Special Events and MarCom in 2016 to Talent Management in 2020, to President in 2023 and winning Gold Chapter of the Year in 2024! It has been a long and wild ride, meeting thousands of people, building strong relationships, and working with the most amazing professionals.

I have learned more about marketing, business operations, leadership development, relationship-building, and helping others achieve their goals. My journey began in 2016 at my first AMA Cincinnati event, where I felt excitement and connection. My life and world changed as I found a group dedicated to creating a sense of belonging.

AMA Cincinnati's recent achievements highlight our exceptional Board of Directors. Serving as President allowed me to collaborate with a skilled and devoted group. Together, we celebrated milestones like graduations, job advancements, weddings, births, and home purchases, while also facing challenges such as loss, caregiving, and demanding bosses.

In Chapter year 22-23, we launched The Mentorship Program under the leadership of 2024 Volunteer of the Year Suzanne Buzek and The Workforce Development Series, led by me. Both were successful and repeated this year. We also reinstated our in-person Trailblazer Series with new VPs Cortlan Booker & Abbey Cummins and I thank you both for your continued support! Additionally, we celebrated our most ethnically diverse board, showcasing our inclusive nature with representation from 4 generations and 3 ethnic groups.

These accomplishments contribute to our chapter's greatness and exemplify what makes us an amazing AMA Chapter. Being the First Black Chapter President, winning Gold Chapter of the Year, and having consecutive Volunteer of the Year Winners from our chapter has generated excitement in our community. I aim for this to be my AMA Cincinnati Legacy.

Finally I want to thank the AMAzing leaders that led to us making chapter history – Annie Carl for electing me as your President-Elect, Suzanne Buzek for putting me on your committee way back in 2016, Gina Bonar for seeing me get back in line to get a picture with Ann Handley and bringing into the space, Dennis Devlin for always being a strong support system and cheering me on, Audrey Ronis-Tobin for being an incredible friend and leading our chapter to new and exciting programs like AMA Agency, Amy Mersch for always providing the #Details and making us all think strategically, Gabrielle Kiefer for standing by me for 5 years as we navigated membership/volunteers/talent management, Andy Noller for bringing in the research to support our choices as a board, David Alex for dealing with a bunch of marketers who want to spend money, William Moses for saying yes to being my President Elect, Betsy L. Wolking for your exceptional leadership and planning skills, Grace Harten for your talented event management and dedication to making our events special, Ricky Dennis for leading the charge on all things DEI related, Rhea Hickok for leading our Pinnacle Awards for several years, Aimee Jud, MSEd for being so positive and encouraging to myself and others, Autumn Jenkins, M.S. for accepting the Professional Chapter as your new home #UCAMAPresident Christine Sech for saying "YES" to being on the board and coming in hot with beautiful new features for our website, Julia Pegis for being a huge part of our email marketing success, Barry Williams for running our communities so beautifully, Tom Jones for being Tom Jones ??, Amanda Carleski, MPA, PCM for bringing new life to membership, Julie Metzger for saying "YES" to being on this AMAzing board and making our website even better, and of course Kathy Walters … Where would we be without you Kathy!? Your historical knowledge of our chapter, your passion and fierceness in addition to your hard work and dedication for three decades is unparalleled. We are so lucky to have had you as our Administrative Director, and you will be deeply missed.

To all of the new board members that I was able to celebrate with this past weekend, the fun is just starting for you: Claire Farrell , Betty Rodriguez-Hakes , Sanjay Puligadda , and Molly Alderson ! Casey Boggs and Burk Meyrose hope you can make it next year!

Thank you also to the judges for reading our CEA entry, and continuing to recognize the Excellence that is within the AMA Cincinnati Chapter. Thank you to the Co-chairs Misty W. and Kimberly N. Strong, MBA for making this Summit even better than last year. Thank you Karen McFarlane, NACD.DC and Vanessa C. Torres for your incredible leadership and Presidencies. Thank you to the Presenting Team for making this year so special for us all. Thank you Ursula E. Littlejohn for making sure ALL of the things Happen! Thank you Bennie F. Johnson for being our CEO. We have dealt with the rest and we are thankful for the best!